GoCreditGo! wrote:Which is the best cashback Visa card available today?

If you discount rewards boosters like Bank of America's, the best flat rewards you can do with a Visa is the Orbitz Rewards Visa. It earns 2% flat outside of Orbitz purchases (5% on Orbitz). The only catch is that you can only use it to pay (in full or partially) for hotel rooms booked and prepaid through Orbitz. So if you use Orbitz for travel including booking hotels (or think you can), this is an excellent choice.

I think I'd rather have a BoA travel card than deal with that crap for an extra 0.5%

Huh? What crap? There is no crap to deal with. The only difference is booking channel. The vast majority of properties people would book are available through Orbitz. The "Orbucks" (Orbitz' rewards currency, 1 Orbuck = 1 USD when redeemed for a hotel booking) are redeemable in any amount at any time. If you have $50 in Orbucks and your hotel costs $150 for 2 nights, you pay the other $100 in cash and use the $50 in Orbucks.

I have been an Orbitz user for quite some time and these redemptions (and earnings) and smooth and easy. 5% on airfare, hotel bookings and vacation packages through a credit card on a consistent basis without getting into any points redemption/transfer/valuation ups and downs. Simple, high rewards rate that works if you book hotels.

Personally I'd rather have 1point=1USD no matter what. That would let me pick any place to purchase from for any reason. Orbitz is nice, but I have found they are often more expensive than alternatives.

Vermonster wrote:Personally I'd rather have 1point=1USD no matter what. That would let me pick any place to purchase from for any reason. Orbitz is nice, but I have found they are often more expensive than alternatives.

I've not been an Orbitz customer, but I just did a (very limited) comparison of Hilton.com and Orbitz - 10 NYC properties for 2 different 1-night stays.

Some Orbitz prices were higher, but some were lower than Hilton.com. I don't have much confidence in any hotel's "Best Price Guarantee". It pays to shop around, which is part of why I like CSP's broad definition of travel.

Wallet: Prestige CSP SchwabPlat Freedom It Hyatt SallieMae AAPlatSD: Arrival BrooksBros BCE ED IHGLetting new accounts cool off since MayReally not sure what I'll add next or when

Vermonster wrote:Personally I'd rather have 1point=1USD no matter what. That would let me pick any place to purchase from for any reason. Orbitz is nice, but I have found they are often more expensive than alternatives.

I actually do shop around to see if anyone is offering a rate lower than Orbitz' without a special promo of some sort (Orbitz is almost always running a 15% promo on hotels but not all hotels are eligible for it). If you are comparing the sale prices from other sites to Orbitz' non-sale price, I can see how you are getting a different rate. I have almost never found a rate better than the one I got on Orbitz. Because I generally tend to pick budget properties, my research is extensive (I read lots of reviews), and I love the price search feature that compares sites on TripAdvisor.

The one time I did find a lower rate on another site, Orbitz issued me a full credit for the price diffence plus a cool $150 in Orbucks, and the process was the smoothest I have experienced. I didn't have to call anyone. Filled out a form online, attached a screenshot of the lower price and completed my stay. Boom, I had the credits in my account.

But yes, I would rather have it as cash than Orbucks. But the reward rate is high enough and I use Orbitz for bookings all the time, so it is pretty much as good as cash for me.

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